Hoje fui à Liba fazer uma comprinha e aproveitei para comer uma comida japonesa. Fui pela segunda vez no Itidai, mais um dos restaurantes tradicionais e não tão modernos do bairro, como o Yamaga.

A dica são os teishokus, combinados que misturam pratos quentes e frios. Ótimo para quem quer variedade e não quer se matar de comer num rodózio. Eles têm uma lista grande de opções, que variam de 25 a 30 e pouco reais. Pedi o basicão teishoku box (R$25). Vem com missoshiro, 7 fatias de sashimi, anchova grelhada, tempurá, arroz branco e legumes em conserva. Tudo muito bom. Você realmente sai satisfeito, ao contrário dos teishokus migué dos shoppings (e pelo mesmo preço).

De novo. O ambiente não é moderno. Tem cara de tradicional e velho, porém clean. Por isso mesmo que gosto de lá. Fico imaginando que os restaurantes no Japão devem ser assim. E ainda mais que toca de fundo uma música japonesa antiga! Tem dois tatames para os grupos. O atendimento é bem simpático.

Total da conta foi R$32. Também existem opções de lamen (já experimentei e é bom), sushis, sashimis e rodízio.

Endereço: Rua Tomáz Gonzaga, 70 – Liberdade – Tel: 3207 3975

Outros restaurantes japoneses na Tomáz Gonzaga:

Yamaga, japonês tradicional na Liba
Mais lamen!
Porque não o Porque Sim?

Muted plaid

Eating at a Teishoku (定食) restaurant with friend Shinya.

Still pre-haircut… but, with food laid out in front of me, I couldn’t care less. Teishoku is generally rice, miso soup plus something delicious, akin to an a la carte menu, where one chooses the main part and the the normal sides are included. In Japan, the normal sides are of course rice and miso. In front of me is grilled beef; Shinya had karage (chicken fritters, for ya’ll Southerns).

-N. T. Edwards

This is my first post in a while.  Hopefully I’ll have a few more posts up soon.  Anyway, here are some of the songs that are on my current playlist:

The Offspring – Smash
From the album of the same name, “Smash” was a song I first heard back in elementary school.  I became an instant fan of the band.  Even after all these years, it’s still one of my all-time favorite albums.  It’s quite rare for me to like almost every song on one album, but “Smash” is an exception.  I enjoyed every album from this band until they released “Americana”.  The song “Pretty Fly” ruined it for me.  It just wasn’t “The Offspring” anymore.  This song along with other “Smash” classics like “Bad Habit” and “Self Esteem” will forever be the defining songs of the band to me.

B’z – Forever Mine
This song has one of the best intros ever.  There are some parts that I don’t particularly like in this song, but I think the intro more than makes up for them.  B’z is one of the few Jrock (Japanese rock) bands I like.  The vocalist has a really distinct voice.  I know some people don’t like it, but I’m personally a fan of the vocalist.  I think the guitarist is pretty amazing as well, a really talented fella without a doubt.

Koda Kumi – TABOO
This was a little unexpected.  It managed to remain on my playlist for quite a while.  Usually the songs that manage to remain on my playlist for over a couple of days are classics.  There’s just something about this song that I find really catchy.  Out of all the artists Japan have been pumping out over the last couple of years, I think Koda Kumi is one of the better ones.  How you interpret that is up to you.

Rage Against the Machine – No Shelter
Great song from a great band.  I think this is one of those black and white bands.  You either like them or you don’t.  There isn’t much of a grey area.

Metallica – King Nothing (KMFDM Remix)
It’s Metallica, enough said.  At least that’s what I’d like to say.  I know most fans don’t like the stuff produced after the black album and in a way I feel the same way.  Albums like “Load” and “Reload” weren’t on the same level as the previous stuff.  I don’t think I even need to mention the disaster known as “St. Anger”.  I happen to like a handful of songs from both “Load” and “Reload”, with “King Nothing” being one of them.  When you mix Metallica with an awesome band like KMFDM, you end up with something great.

Contrary to what many people may believe, anime isn’t very popular among the general public. Most teenagers and adults do not watch anime. I would say roughly after the age of 11 or 12, many kids stop watching anime with maybe the exception of the most popular series. Is that a good or bad thing? Well, it’s purely subjective. I may not have any statistics to back that claim up, but it’s just a general trend I’ve noticed based on my own observations. My guess is it’s more or less similar to the age when kids in western countries stop watching cartoons.

Speaking of popular series, the anime series with the highest TV ratings in Japan today continue to be the same few series. Series like “Sazae-san” and “Chibi Maruko-chan” will likely never see the light of day in North America, Europe and Australia. To most people outside of Japan, these shows would probably be utterly boring. These slice-of-life series just wouldn’t translate well for a western audience, but I digress.

It was only until quite recently where adults who watched anime were viewed negatively by the general public. The stigma still exists today, but not to the extent like it was a few years back. The word “otaku” continues to carry a negative connotation; however, the situation is slowly improving. I think one of the reasons why it is beginning to be viewed in a more positive light is thanks to Japanese celebrities who “came out of the closet” about their ongoing interest in anime.

The popularity of “Densha Otoko” also put the media spotlight on this previously shunned subculture for some time. Some may argue that its popularity did more harm than good. Overall though, I think it helped by giving the general public a look at a very alien subculture. Today, you have people like Nakagawa Shoko who are very vocal about their love of anime. Even if the public is now more open to adults who continue to watch anime, they themselves haven’t started watching anime. Thus, if you ever visit Japan and try to talk about anime with the locals, chances are they won’t know anything about it.

I met up with 2 of my friends tonight at one of the local bars. We only met up to chat for a while so there wasn’t a lot of time to actually spend just drinking. Whenever I go out drinking, I always start with beer. It’s kind of like “my thing”. I occasionally end up drinking nothing but beer, but usually I like to enjoy a variety of drinks in one night.

Being in Japan, most restaurants will usually only have Kirin, Sapporo and/or Asahi as far as beer goes. Of course, this is a bar so I had a wider selection (this particular bar doesn’t have a great selection of import beer) than the domestic brands. After quickly glancing at the menu, I was considering starting the night off with a Heineken, but the words “Asahi Black” caught my attention.

I’m very used to drinking Asahi Super Dry, but I never had the opportunity to try Asahi Black. My curiosity persuaded me to forgo my initial choice. I waited for my friends to order their first round of drinks, then I asked for the Asahi Black. A couple of minutes later (the bartender had to prepare my friends’ drinks as I was the only one who ordered beer) the drinks arrived at our table. The bartender put down a coaster and a glass next to the beer, even though the beer came in a bottle. It’s normal to drink beer from a glass here (except if you’re at a club, of course), but I still don’t like drinking from a glass when I can drink straight from the bottle.

Anyways, I decided to just leave the glass alone and tried the beer. Everyone knows that the first gulp is the best when drinking beer. This beer was no exception. I really enjoyed the beer at first. The aftertaste of Asahi Black was much more prominent than other domestic and even most import beer I’ve tried. The overall taste was decent, but to be honest it isn’t something I’d want to be drinking all night long. It feels much heavier than regular beer. If you just want to enjoy a couple of drinks while munching on some snacks though, I think this beer would be a pretty good choice.

After I finished the beer, I decided I wanted something a little lighter in taste. I ended up ordering one of my staple drinks, a Gin and tonic. In case you are wondering about the prices, the Asahi Black was less than 600yen (it was either 540 or 580) while the gin and tonic was 700yen.

This little corner will be where I share the most commonly-played songs on my playlist. I don’t change my playlist on a daily or weekly basis. It pretty much comes down to my mood. Sometimes I may go through a few different playlists in a day. Usually I’ll choose from a handful of “core” playlists then throw in a few extra songs that I miss listening to. Without further ado, here are the songs that have managed to remain on my playlist this week:

Kanye West – Stronger
For some this may have been played ad nauseam, but I just can’t seem to get tired of it. Kanye West + Daft Punk? Sounds like a winning formula to me.

Marilyn Manson – The Beautiful People
I’m personally not a huge fan of Manson. I like a few songs here and there, but there’s just something about this song that I really love.

Moist – Push
One of my favorite songs by Moist. During the mid 90s, Moist had always been in my top 10 most-played CD’s (namely the albums, “Silver” and “Creature”) To be honest, I’m not a fan of David Usher’s solo work. It just didn’t grow on me.

Ootake Kaoruko – Gin Tonic
This is the perfect song for those people who need to wind down with a drink after work. The tempo isn’t slow, so it won’t make you feel drowsy, yet it does a wonderful job of entrancing you into your own world of relaxation.

Ootake Kaokuro – Bloody Caesar
Another great piece from the “Bartender” soundtrack. This song reminds me of the jazz club I went to in Yuurakucho (Tokyo). I would love to listen to this song performed live at my local jazz club.

This particle accelerator cost around US$9 billion to develop. There are many people who were (and still are) opposed to this project. Many feel it is a waste of money or too dangerous. I think this project is money very well spent. It’s extremely exciting to wait and see what sort of discoveries they’ll make to further our understanding of the universe and its creation. The data may show contradictions to our current theories, but that’s the beauty of science. We learn more about the truth based on evidence.

Their findings may completely shatter what’s currently accepted as the most plausible state of reality. For many this will be outrageous and hard to accept. I think we should keep an open mind and try to enlighten our own understanding of this universe as long as it’s backed by strong evidence. It’s hard to imagine what sort of new applicable technology will come out of the discoveries made at the LHC. I feel it’s a worthwhile investment in hope of people using some of what is learned to create new technologies that will benefit the human race.

Many people have claimed that the money spent to build the LHC would have been better spent on more humanitarian causes such as providing food for people in less fortunate countries. I’m definitely not against giving a helping hand to my fellow human being. Though you have to consider this money that could have been used to feed these people would only be a short term deal. Once the money is used up, you are once again left with millions of hungry people.

People who disagree with this project due to the above reason I can sympathize with because I do think we should help the less fortunate. I just believe there are better ways to help them than merely handing them food. Now, there are also people who are against the creation of the LHC because they fear it might create a black hole that would destroy the world or even the universe. I know, it sounds really silly, but there are people who honestly fear the LHC could be a doomsday device. I may not be an expert in this field, but even with my basic knowledge of physics reassures me that it is simply impossible for us to create anywhere close to the kind of energy required for a black hole that would be of any danger. A little research on the good ol’ world wide web will also tell you the same thing.

Some may argue we can’t be sure about it being “impossible” because the LHC project aims to carry out experiments we’ve never been able to before. In that case, I’ll retract my previous use of the word “impossible” and say, “improbable” instead. The chance for the LHC to end up as a doomsday device is so low that I’m more likely to be struck by lightning twice in one day. Any global threats directly caused by the LHC would only be a story for Hollywood. Grab some popcorn, sit back and enjoy the fascinating discoveries the scientists are bound to make.

*The photo was taken from the LHC’s official website.

The other day I tried a food I thought I would never try. I ended up eating some chicken tataki at a restaurant in Fujisawa. For those of you who aren’t familiar with tataki, it’s basically raw meat or fish seared on the outside, sometimes marinated as well.

You can see where I’m going with this. Raw chicken? Yes, that’s right. I put myself on the front lines against salmonella. Luckily it has been a few days since that memorable night and I’m happy to say, I emerged victorious. There are no signs of any *ahem* unfortunate side-effects of that meal. I hate to disappoint, but I didn’t take a picture of the dish due to me not bringing my digital camera with me that day. I would have taken it with my cellphone’s camera, but the restaurant was pretty low-lit. So much for the 5MP camera on the phone. The flash on my Sharp 910SH is abysmal. I should start looking for a new phone, it’s nearing the end of its life.

Back to the chicken. It sat on the plate, seducing me with everything it had to get me to eat it. I was quite hesitant to try it at first. Growing up in a society where we were told not to eat raw chicken and pork for fear of salmonella, it took some strong persuasion to get me to put the chicken in my mouth. A happy (maybe not the smartest) mix of beer, shochu and single malt whiskey one after the other must have helped a great deal in lowering any restraints I had.

Finally, I mustered up the courage (or threw out any sense of remaining logic I had, whatever is more believable to you) to pick up a piece of the chicken with my chopsticks. I put it into my mouth and began chewing and savoring the flavor. Now, the flavor itself wasn’t bad. Being raw on the inside, it reminded me a little of a certain fish. The name of the fish escapes me at the moment. The texture is the only thing I have a complaint about. It was much chewier than I had expected. Some parts felt much chewier than squid or octopus, but some parts felt like sashimi. That combination of textures wasn’t my cup of tea. I enjoy those textures separately, but not together in a single piece of meat.

Would I try it again? Probably not, if I had a choice. I personally don’t feel it’s worth the taste plus the risk. I would much rather enjoy some nice sashimi.

Over the last couple of years, the popularity of Japanese anime has been booming all over the world. I find that it’s both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, I think it’s great many other people can genuinely enjoy this form of entertainment. On the other hand, this may also give people a distorted or extremely limited view of Japan and its culture. Let me elaborate.

There are many anime series that are clearly fantasy and have little to no relevance to Japanese culture on the surface (“Junni Kokki” and “Ghost in the Shell” come to mind). Then you have other shows such as your typical harem series that many people might believe Japan is really like the way the shows portray it. Of course, I’m not saying there isn’t any shred of truth in what’s shown in those shows. Much like everything else you hear or read about though, it should be taken with a grain of salt.

I can’t put all the blame on the viewers for their ignorance. Most fans of anime outside of Japan have never been to Japan. They simply create an image of the country based on the shows they watch. If someone truly was interested in Japan, they could quite easily educate themselves in this day and age. Nonetheless, most fans of anime probably can’t be bothered to do a little research when they just want to watch anime for entertainment. So one might ask where exactly is the problem? The problem is when people start “educating” others about Japan and its culture based on what they see in anime and claim it as absolute truth.

Don’t get me wrong, I love anime as much as the next person, but Japan is so much more than giant robots and schoolgirls with wild hair colours. It has a fascinating culture full of ancient tradition struggling to thrive in the midst of a westernized country. I will attempt to give you a glimpse of a Japan many people may not be familiar with. As a quick example, some people may not realize that people in Tokyo are very different from the people in Osaka. One could even say they’re almost on opposite ends of the spectrum. As a final piece of information, no, Tokyo does not get destroyed on a weekly basis.

I just thought I’d share an interesting sign I came across while on Itsukushima (aka Miyajima) in Hiroshima Prefecture.  I love the way the characters look on that sign.  For those of you who aren’t familiar with Japan, take a look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itsukushima for more information.  I highly recommend this area if you decide to visit Japan.  The short trek (more or less an hour) up to the highest point of the area will provide you with a fantastic view of the surroundings.

Hoje de madrugada eu dei minha contribuição (acima) para a HQ infinita organizada pelo Gual, da livraria HQ Mix.
É um projeto que existe faz tempo, mas que nessa virada cultural está tendo uma grande evolução.

O esquema é assim, cada quadrinista faz uma página em uma hora, lá na livraria mesmo, continuando a história do ponto em que a pessoa anterior parou.
É complciado desenhar na hora, na vitrine da loja (!), com um monte de gente te vendo, mas é bacana. Tinha até um computador por lá, pra pintar, ajeitar e tal.
Tem um monte de gente genial nessa JAM e o resultado é bem legal. Fora que é divertido encontrar o pessoal e vê-los desenhando.

Quando completar 100 páginas será lançado um livro. Eu desenhei a página 52 e até o fim do evento talvez chegue bem perto de 100, acho.

Abaixo, o flyer oficial do evento.
Outra hora posto fotos, talvez.

A HQMix Livraria fica na Praça Roosevelt, 142, no centro de São Paulo.

Lá é o melhor e mais simpático lugar para achar quadrinhos em sp. Praticamente toda semana tem lançamento de alguma revista e, além disso, tem livros de arte, arquitetura e afins. Recomendo.

Hoje, ao longo da virada, o esquema vai continuar. Pretendo dar uma passada lá, entre um show e outro.

+ um colaborador – BEM SUCINTO. Gente, porque esse povo insiste em publicidade? Jornalismo é muito mais legal. Segue o primeiro textinho do Caju!

Sushi Kiyo, japonês tradiça escondido na R. Tutóia. Sempre tem famílias e executivos japoneses almoçando. O q liga é pedir o Teishoku, q é o PF deles. Vem muita coisa e a dica é cada um pedir um Teishoku de cada (tempurá, sushi…) pra todo mundo dividir. Pra qualidade da comida – o corte do peixe é muito bom – sai barato, uns R$30, bem menos que um rodízio decente. No frio, peça o Tempurá Udon, que é delicioso e mais barato. Manobrista na faixa.

Serviço
Sushi Kiyo
Rua Tutóia, 223, Paraíso, São Paulo – SP.
Tel. 11-3887 9148
www.sushi-kiyo.com.br

Guilherme Nóbrega

Li uma matéria que gostei muito sobre gastronomia japonesa, principalmente, porque não ensina a preparar sushi e sashimi (o que parece desafiador demais pra mim), mas dá dicas de como apreciar ainda mais comer sushi e sashimi (o que me sinto animadíssima de enfrentar).
Se alguém quiser me acompanhar na tarefinha, transcrevi a matéria na íntegra, publicada na Top Magazine de fevereiro, com texto de Marina Fuentes e fotos de Cesar Schaeffer.

“17 coisas que você não sabia sobre gastronomia japonesa
Se para você, degustar bons sushis é “ir comer um japonês num rodízio” cheio de “peixe branco” e temakis “completos”, sua visão de culinária japonesa está mais do que embaçada. Para ajudar a aclarar os conceitos de uma alimentação que é um ritual equilibrado e cheio de significados, TOP conversou com o sushiman Hideki Fuchikame, japonês da gema e proprietário de dois restaurantes em São Paulo, que mantêm boa parte das tradições orientais à mesa. Eis 17 conceitos que você deve saber.

1)Ao perguntar para o garçom quais peixes o restaurante oferece, se a resposta for “salmão, atum e peixe branco”, desconfie. Existem centenas de tipos de peixes de carne branca – todos muito diferentes entre si. Incluir todos numa mesma categoria (ou servir apenas um, com o nome genérico) é ignorar uma boa gama de consistências e sabores específicos.

2)Sushi e sashimi não são o arroz com feijão do japonês. As refeições do dia-a-dia são muito mais parecidas com o teishoku oferecido nos restaurantes daqui e são compostas por miniporções variadas de legumes, proteínas (como frango e peixe), arroz, algum caldo.

3)Muito se fala sobre como manejar os hashis (os pauzinho que servem de talheres), mas o fato é que eles nem sempre são necessários. Sushis também são comidos com as mãos, principlamente quando a refeição é feita no balcão.

4)O sushi correto não é muito grande nem muito pequeno, mas sim com a proporção certa para encher a boca sem a necessidade de mordê-lo para partir.

5)Nem todo sushi e sashimi é feito com peixe ou frutos do mar. No sul do Japão, são comuns os basahi, elaborados com carne de cavalo crua. Sua parte mais gorda tem a consistência de um kobe beef (dos famosos gados especiais massageados e ultramacios) e é considerada uma iguaria.

6)Por serem preparados na hora em que serão servidos, acredita-se que os sushis e sashimis transmitem muita energia. Por isso, se ao entrar no restaurante, você notar que o sushiman está de mal humor, melhor pedir um missoshiro e deixar a refeição para outro dia.

7)Nada de misturar a raiz-forte no shoyu. O correto é colocá-la diretamente no peixe. No caso dos sushis, que já vêm com a pasta, o recomendável é molhar apenas um cantinho da parte do peixe no shoyu. Dessa forma, o tempero não sobrepõe o sabor do peixe, e o arroz não se desfaz todo no potinho.

8)Ao contrário do que muitos pensam, a parte mais gorda do peixe, também chamada de torô, é a mais nobre. Entre elas, a mais desejada, uma espécie de caviar beluga, é a do atum de barbatana azul.

9)Para encontrar as partes mais nobres dos pescados e disputá-las a tapa (literalmente) nos mercados de peixes, são convocados proofissionais especializados na compra. Esses especialistas conhecem os cortes e as evidências de qualidade a fundo e ganham muito bem. São eles que, no caso de uma compra equivocada, arcam com o prejuízo.

10)Japoneses são capazes de comer quase tudo feito de quase todas as formas, não ouse falar “duvido”. O trivial frango caipira, por exemplo, é ingerido até cru no tataki, uma espécie de carpaccio. Já água-viva, filhote de enguia e barbatana de tubarão são alguns dos produtos exóticos que são devorados mesmo crus.

11)Os pratos da culinária japonesa não foram criados para serem lights e sim equilibrados. Por isso, os pepinos e nabos, que costumam ser confundidos com adorno das travessas de sushis e sashimis, estão lá como integrantes da refeição para estabelecer um equlíbrio entre vegetais, carboidratos (do arroz) e proteínas (do peixe).

12)Por conta dessa mesma proposta de equilíbrio, os famosos rodízios simplesmente não existem no Japão. A idéia de comer um produto de menor qualidade em quantidade muito maior do que a necessária é jsutamente o contrário do que um nipônico quer em sua refeição. No Brasil, o sistema faz sucesso pelo prazer do brasileiro em se fartar e comer com abundância (mas não necessariamente com qualidade).

13) O gengibre tem um papel fundamental: além de ser desintoxicante, ele serve para “limpar” o paladar entre um e outro sushi, para que se note os diferentes sabores dos diversos peixes servidos.

14)”Vai um temaki completo?” Eis outra invenção feita em terra brasileira. Japoneses adoram maionese, mas não cometem o sacrilégio de incluí-la em qualquer tipo de sushi. O mesmo vale para o, hoje bastante freqüente, cream cheese.

15)O famoso califórnia, acredite, também não é japonês. Ele foi criado nos restaurantes orientais dos Estados Unidos, mas os nipônicos gostaram tanto que adotaram e mantiveram o nome, para indicar sua origem.

16)Em meio a tantos pratos saudáveis e leves, a fritura dos tempuras parece destoar. Mas há uma explicação: o prato foi criado quando os portugueses chegaram no Japão (no famoso período em que procuravam as Índias) e torceram o nariz para toda aquela comida crua. Empanar camarões e legumes foi a forma que os japoneses encontraram de alimentar os lusos a contento.

17)Não há período menstrual ou um suposto aquecimento das mãos que justifique a ausência de sushiwoman. O ato louvável de preparar a comida é exclusividade deles por puro machismo ancestral.